Vive La Condominium !

Captain Brett Hilder replies to the conclusions reached hy Mr. Alexander Rentoul in his article in the June “PIM,” under the heading, “Divide the Pandemonium.”

I HAVE no disagreement with the facts which Mr. Rentoul so clearly and fearlessly sets out in his attempt to discredit the Condominium; but I think he has come to the wrong conclusions.

He has only lightly sketched in his hopeless solution, which would be a tragic piece of mal-adrfiinistration indeed; To cut off the southern islands of Er romanga, Tanna, and Aneytium would leave them without any shipping connec tion with Australia, as they could not support a ship of their own. They would thus drop into oblivion except to phila telists. When they came under Can berra, their population of one dozen Euro peans would get proportionate considera tion with the neglected Northern Terri tory and Norfolk Island, with its 1000 inhabitants.

The rest of the Group, now predomin antly French, was built upon plantations which were all founded by British Aus tralians, who sold out at good prices when artificial conditions were turned against them. While the Condominium lasts there is always the possibility of condi tions turning again to favour Australian settlers. But once the main part of the Group goes completely French it becomes a close preserve of France, and even British shipping can no longer call econ

omically.

BEFORE I give my evaluation of the Joint Government, I should like to say that my service there was, like Mr. Rentoul’s, of nearly two years’ dura tion. My occupation as second mate of the inter-island steamer “Makambo” took me to over 100 ports of call and to the farthest corners of the Group. That was ten years ago, but the conditions appear to be no worse now, than they were then.

My study of the varied people of the group, with their romantic histories, and their commercial activities, soon con vinced me that the territory, with its in effective government, was a home-from home to those to whom liberty is dear., That statement is, of course, made from the point of view of a freedom-loving citizen. Mr. Rentoul has spoken from the ivory tower of the administrator, whose views on administration are that there should be more of it. His cure for all evils is more and stricter administration.

If the Group is poverty-stricken, then call in the professors and experts—who will want to spend millions of pounds in pampering the natives —and to the bot tomless pit with commercial enterprises!

The New Hebrides just growed, like Topsy, into a Condominium, and eventu

ally achieved for its condition a legal status—granted with great reluctance by England. (Most irregular, old man!).

Due to the inscrutable ways of provi dence, it has turned out an unqualified success, both politically and socially. It has not done brilliantly in the economic field, but this may have been due to the abolition of the slave-trade, and the more recent lack of administrative co operation in the grog-trade and the gun trade. In New South Wales, we find the vital industries of horse-racing, boxing, and the liquor-trade all receiving active support from the Government.

Compared with that temporary crown of international co-operation, the UNO, the Condominium is a miracle of har mony and tolerance. Mr. Rentoul has described the economic conditions which have operated against the British settlers for many years. What armed fury would have arisen in places like Palestine, Ire land, India or Fiji, if such discrimination were shown to a section of the commun ity?

After the racial troubles in such coun tries, we should point with pride to the naturally incompatible French and Brit ish living in comparative happiness. In cidents are rare between the two nation alities, despite the provocative effect of large quantities of Australian wine and beer. The courtesy prevalent between the two races is not due to anything in the way of repressions, for such un healthy growths do not flourish in the free air of the Hebrides.

If the Group could be remodelled as an ideal democracy, it would come to much the same thing as now, with maj ority rule (French) and adequate free dom and consideration to the minority (British).

Under the present nominal equality, French dominance and British appease ment are only a reflection of correct values. As to the Gilbertian set-up of the government, there are few people who dislike the works of W. S. Gilbert, although he must have been very un popular with pompous public servants who may have felt the sting of truth in his caricatures. I find more truth in Gilbert than in the Statutes of the Realm.

At the Blackwell wedding in Vila, in 1933, the British Resident remarked that marriage was largely a matter of give and-take, like the Condominium; and he wished the couple at least the same success as the Joint Agreement. Some marriages, of course, develop into all giv ing on one side and take on the other,

but such marriages are better than many others which end in divorce and still better again than the separation which Mr. Rentoul prescribes for the same sort

of unevenness which exists in the Condominium.

One of my cherished memories of the

AdiSnistmUve Service

Ttefirstvolume described hYsdiseust at the demoraStion ofthe inhabhants aSd came out, under a nom-de-plume,’ with the title “Isles of Illusion.” The second volume, written some time later, described his own demoralisation to the status of-a beachcomber, and depending upon his native wife’s capacity to work.

It was called “Gone Native,” and this timp it mrripri thp rpnl name time it carried the mans real name.

I am not suggesting that Mr. Rentoul ™ u \ d S° say that I think that he is a humanist under his veneer of administrative efficiency. Perhaps when he has spent a little time under the New Order in Papua he may begin to appreciate what the Freedcm of the New Hebrides means to

the varied inhabitants there, including all colours and nationalities. jy VT T must t forget the background, ** for that is where the native fits in to the P icture > and rightly so! They are at P erfect liberty to retire behind the nearest tree if become sh y> and ma y and eat their fellows without ue mt(^rferencie from the a^imstra hQ ,° t V r p^ ed JS fr? so that they^ aka P a T* '* n they deal in reamfes andnot in deius jrJfJ deal m reallties and not m delus „ T ... , - , Before concluding I should like to deal seriatim with Mr. Rentoul’s main points of criticism: — • British civilians are far from satisfied with their lot: ; That is quite normal with people who are slow at using their own initiative, There are many other lines of develop ment waiting for anyone to start. Some

of these would not require indentured labour, nor any skilled labour beyond some of the many desperate dozens of ex-Servicemen in Australia. • The natives are neglected.

This is splendid. No exploitation, no forced labour, no pampering by trade unionism and Eddie Ward. Just left alone to their own sweet devices, but free to earn some money by some very casual labour whenever they want to.

This “laissez-faire” policy is my ideal of an enlightened native policy. Bravo! • The French carry on in their usual happy-go-lucky fashion, breaking most laws to their own great profit and content.

The British have always done the same to a great extent, or they would have lost their place in the Group years ago. But they don’t rush up to the British Agent and tell him how they are beating the Frenchman at his own game. And the Agent only serves the French side when hounds the British who compete in illegal trades. • And the sun shines on the just and the unjust alike.

Then let us be thankful for the sun, and the sea, and the rain, that they are not administrators who believe in their Divine Right to rule, as did Charles mark I. His head went into the basket, and that’s where this article will go, if I don’t stick to the point.

MAY God preserve the New Hebrides from a Great Prosperity, for with wealth comes envy, and squabbling, and more Government control, and gone will be our Hebrides, the haven of the

free. May it remain the one place where vice is not vicious, where shame is un known, and where scandal is but an in telligent interest in human affairs. And may all the Gods save it from Canberra!

Long may the two flags fly at equal height over the Condominium!